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Written by Beth Askham When mysterious lumps of pumice stone washed up on beaches in Tasmania, Australia, Rebecca Carey knew that they must be coming from an underwater volcano. Rebecca is a Tasmanian volcanologist (someone who studies volcanos), and she had been tracking the travelling pumice for more than a year.

Written by Beth Askham Sometimes smelling like your environment is the best way to blend in and hide from predators. On the Great Barrier Reef, the harlequin filefish shelters in coral branches overnight. Researchers have found that these fish not only look like coral, they smell like it too.

Australia’s new Marine National Facility research vessel, Investigator, arrived on Tuesday to its home port of Hobart. The ship will soon take scientists and high-tech equipment to the watery parts of the world; to measure the weather, take samples from the sea floor and study marine life.

Written by Michele Weber Coral reefs have much in common with rainforests: both are full of life, but are low in nutrients. How is that possible? As far as a coral reef goes, it’s because marine sponges produce waste that contains food that other reef animals can eat.

Written by Neha Karl When waste isn’t disposed of carefully, it can find its way into rivers and oceans. This human made litter can be very harmful for marine animals, including sea turtles. There are seven threatened species of marine turtle and we have six of them here in Australia.

Written by Neha Karl Is it a fish? Is it a boat? No, it’s Argo float – a robot ready to dive deep and collect information about the ocean!

Following a fatal attack off New South Wales, sharks are once again in the spotlight. As tragic as these events are, shark attacks are so rare, scientists aren’t sure why humans are bitten at all.

Robots have been a popular part of science fiction for years. While robots that can think and feel like humans are still just a fantasy, robotic systems are already having an impact on our lives. CSIRO runs one of the largest robotics research centres in the world, the Autonomous Systems Laboratory. Instead of trying to […]

A research team on board Australia’s Marine National Facility research vessel, Southern Surveyor, have made an unusual discovery: an island that isn’t there.

At school you receive report cards to keep track of how you’re going and to identify strengths and weaknesses. Report cards are good for students – what about our oceans?